No abstract

The accessibility of street as a social arena that fulfils the need for people with disabilities (PwDs) is an important consideration in the urban design of an area. With the rising number of PwDs in Malaysia, this aspect of street design is even more critical. This paper evaluates the accessibility level of sidewalk along Jalan Hang Jebat, Melaka to PwDs. On-site access audit simulation was carried out. Actual PwDs were engaged for the simulation. It was found that the sidewalk in inaccessible to PwDs due to presence of barriers and the design of the sidewalk itself. This paper suggest that the minimum requirement of MS1184:2014 must be implemented in the sidewalk design and the concept of 'shared space' can be adopted in the study area.

The accessibility of street as a social arena that fulfils the need for people with disabilities (PwDs) is an important consideration in the urban design of an area. With the rising number of PwDs in Malaysia, this aspect of street design is even more critical. This paper evaluates the accessibility level of sidewalk along Jalan Hang Jebat, Melaka to PwDs. On-site access audit simulation was carried out. Actual PwDs were engaged for the simulation. It was found that the sidewalk in inaccessible to PwDs due to presence of barriers and the design of the sidewalk itself. This paper suggest that the minimum requirement of MS1184:2014 must be implemented in the sidewalk design and the concept of ‘shared space’ can be adopted in the study area.

Becoming an Accessible City in developing countries has mitigating barriers as compared to developed countries. It is comprehensive to non-discriminate PwDs in access and facilities for equal opportunity. Accessibility legislation of different nations has various success in implementing and enforcing Universal Design through regulatory, government initiatives, and planning approaches. ASEAN developing nations have awareness and advocacy, because the fragmentary built environment, resulting in Accessible City concept that has not strived to expectation. Eliciting from interviews of access consultants and city planning regulations from London, Oslo, and Singapore. Conclusively, extraction of inclusion strategies is to be adapted for implementation in Malaysia. Keywords: Accessible City; Universal Design; Inclusion strategies; developing countries. eISSN: 2398-4287© 2021. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians/Africans/Arabians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v6iSI4.2913

Covid -19 which has started to spread to Malaysia in 2020 has changed the lifestyle of the people in terms of economic, social and environmental. The new living norms introduced have changed lives and have stunted the economic growth of the country especially when many companies have closed their businesses. An impact from the movement control order (MCO) implemented has an impact on the employment sector. This is because, many employment sectors had to be closed in an effort to help the government curb the spread of COVID-19 from continuing to spread in the community. Most companies, business operations, private organizations and the government were shut down immediately during MCO, which has resulted in many companies not being able to cover their expenses, causing companies to lay off employees. Although it affects everyone but the disabled are more impressed with the limitations they have experienced before. The purpose of this study is to find out the perception of persons with disabilities (PwDs) on the potential of upgrading the accessibility of private premises to be PwDs friendly as a physical stimulus for the development of PwDs businesses and small enterprises. Therefore, this study uses an exploratory mixed method design approach by starting the study by reviewing the documents related to government financial assistance and subsequently distributing the survey form. The conclusion of this study will highlight the perceptions of PWDs in the field of entrepreneurship in physical premises and government financial assistance that has been provided before and during the pandemic in Malaysia.